The Rockford Aviators were a professional baseball team based in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

that played in the independent

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. Rockford previously had a team in the Frontier League called the RiverHawks (2002-2009). There was no Rockford team in the Frontier League in 2010 as the team played in the independent Northern League. A separate RiverHawks franchise then returned to the Frontier League in 2011 and changed the team name to Aviators 2013. The RiverHawks began play at

Marinelli Field Marinelli Field is a stadium in Rockford, Illinois located in Blackhawk Park and is overseen by the Rockford Park District. It is primarily used for baseball. The ball field is in the north end of Blackhawk Park and is bounded by 15th Avenue (n ...

. In 2006, Rockford moved to RiverHawks Stadium, now known as Rivets Stadium, located in

Loves Park, Illinois Loves Park is a city in Boone and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Most of the city is in Winnebago County, with a tiny sliver in the east located in Boone County. The population was 23,996 at the 2010 census, up from 20,044 in ...

History

The Aviators Frontier League franchise was relocated from

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, where the franchise played as the Springfield Capitals. The team moved to Rockford for the 2002 season. The RiverHawks franchise moved to the Northern League in 2010, but stayed for one season before a Rockford team returned to the Frontier League in 2011 when the Northern League folded. The team changed the name to the Aviators for 2013. The Aviators folded following the 2015 season. The highlight for Rockford was the stellar 2004 Frontier League season with manager Bob Koopmann, winning the West division with a 59-37 (.615) record, advancing to the playoffs where they edged the

Windy City Thunderbolts The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood, Illinois, in the United States. The ThunderBolts are a member of the Frontier League, which is a partner league of Major League Baseball. Sinc ...

3-2 in the best of five series to advance to the league championship series. Rockford would then sweep the

Evansville Otters The Evansville Otters are a professional baseball team based in Evansville, Indiana. They compete in the West Division of the independent Frontier League. Since their establishment in 1995, the Otters have played at historic Bosse Field, which o ...

3-0 to win the Frontier League title. The team was led by pitcher Josh Tomsu (10-3, 2.64 ERA), closer Josh Latimer (3-3, 15 saves, 2.47 ERA), Aaron McEachran (.332 BA, 11 HR, 62 RBI), Rico Santana (.284 BA, 5 HR, 65 RBI, 27 SB), Doug Schutt (.286 BA, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 39 SB) and Frontier League MVP Rich Austin (.359 BA, 15 HR, 77 RBI, 22 SB). The franchise hit instability in 2012 when the RiverHawks ballpark went through foreclosure. The stadium ultimately was sold through auction in 2015. The league had taken over management of the Aviators franchise late in the 2015 season, and with financial instability, the team disbanded. Rockford is represented in the Frontier League Hall of Fame by outfielders Stephen Holdren, Jason James and Richard Austin.

Seasons

Notable alumni

* Drew Rucinski (2011–13) * José Martínez (2014) *

Josh Smoker Joshua Michael Smoker (born November 26, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Smoker was born in ...

(2014) * Nick Anderson (2012–13)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Frontier League

Aviators page at OurSports Central
Frontier League teams Professional baseball teams in Illinois Defunct Frontier League teams Defunct baseball teams in Illinois

Aviators An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

Baseball teams established in 2013 Baseball teams disestablished in 2015 Defunct independent baseball league teams 2013 establishments in Illinois Baseball teams established in 2002